Meeting your military work demands

Aquired knowledge following the workshop

What are your working demands in your position?

How will you achieve these working demands?

Why is this of importance?

Brief introduction to the workshop

The complex soldier

Physical Performance Continuum

(Figure modified from: Billing and Drain 2017; Drain and Reilly 2019)

Changes following field exercises/ranger training, operations/deployment

Figure created with data from Ojanen 2022
Doctoral Thesis

The complex soldier

Physical Performance Continuum

(Figure modified from: Billing and Drain 2017; Drain and Reilly 2019)

The complex soldier

  • There are many stress factors for the modern soldier

  • Factors affecting soldiers training adaptations and
    performance development

Icebreaker 😎 (15-20 min)

First task of reflection: Physical skills and deployment/mission ready

- If you had to lead a mission tomorrow, what physical skills/capacities would you most rely on ?

Military working demands

  • If you think about your own field of expertise, which work-related demand do you consider the most important or most influential, and why?

    • What makes it stand out compared to other demands?
    • Which factors are shaping this working demand (technology, environment, speciality, region, country specific etc.)?

Military operations and physical fitness

Military readiness

  • Military readiness is dependent of soldiers’ physical fitness

Military work demands

Strength capacity

  • Moderate to strong correlations (r > 0.4)

Endurance capacity

  • Moderate to strong correlations (r > 0.4)

Military work demands

Strength capacity

  • Moderate to strong correlations (r > 0.4)

Endurance capacity

  • Moderate to strong correlations (r > 0.4)

What Makes a Combat-Ready Soldier? (25 mins)

Common combat roles and physical tasks (e.g. carrying gear, movement under fire, tactical obstacles)

Discussion;

“How does your (the cadet) daily physical training reflect these demands?”

If not in particular: How can you implement some of these working demand in your training day?

Coping with the demands(fragment)

  • What strategies help you handle this demand effectively?

  • Can this demand also be seen as an opportunity for your development as a soldier?

What Makes a Combat-Ready Soldier? (15 mins)

We have assesments - what are the tests telling us?

What Makes a Combat-Ready Soldier? (15 mins)

Discussion groups of three persons;

Why fitness is more that just passing physical training tests?

Elaborate of the idea of “test” fitness vs. “functional” fitness

Can you share an experience from your school days or work where the standard physical fitness test did not prepare you for or reflect the actual challenges you encountered?

How would your training look different if your goal was real-world performance instead of just test performance?

What Makes a Combat-Ready Soldier? (15 mins)

Strength capacity

Endurance capacity

We go out to test the association in real life

  • Fitness test: push- ups for 1 min, shuttle run gravel pitch….

  • Functional test: Causalty evacuation

  • What is your experience?
    • Can a strength and endurance test predict your causalty drag performance?

What Makes a Combat-Ready Soldier? (15 mins)

What is the association telling us?

Figure from NATO (2019)

Test fitness vs- functional fitness

Test fitness

  • Focus: Passing minimum standards (i.e push-ups, sit-ups, run, ball thoss)
  • Approach: Train for test-specific drills
  • Outcome: Meets assessment requirements
  • Limitation: Narrow scope, less adaptable
  • Example: 3 km timed run

Functional fitness

  • Focus: Real-world readiness, unpredictable demands

  • Approach: Train movement patterns (i.e. lift, carry, crawl, sprint)

  • Outcome: Broad performance and injury resilience

  • Limitation: Slower progress on specific test scores

  • Example: Carrying heavy pack uphill - marching

Test fitness vs- functional fitness (15 mins)

  • Valid predictions?

  • To assess an individuals ability to cope with occupational demands

  • “Evaluation of the effects of physical training programs on occupational task performance, should measure relative strain, such as percentage of maximal capacity, of the participants while performing the task (functional) in addition to the performance outcome (test). These data provide more insight into an individuals ability to cope with occupational demands.”

Take aways working demands and tests

Key Takeaway (5 min)

Facilitator emphasizes:

  • Test fitness = meeting a standard (pass/fail based on a score).

  • Functional fitness = being ready for the unexpected - occupational demand.

    • Military pentathlon exercises, could some of these exercises be implemented in a test battery to test occupational demands?
  • Best approach: Train to exceed test standards while building functional fitness (specificity), and resilience for real-world performance.

Possible solution:

  • Make your own test batteries for relevant occupational task?
    • Then you, at least, can monitor and control your progression in relevant occupational tasks that you will meet at the battlefield.
    • Control of the relative strain in that task - training progression?
    • Feasible?
    • Motivational?

Session 3: From Mission Readiness to the Military Pentathlon (25 mins)

Session 3: From Mission Readiness to the Military Pentathlon (25 mins)

Group task:

  • Explain how each one aligns with real-life soldiering skills (speed, coordination, endurance, decision-making)
    • Transferable to your field of speciality?
    • In which situations can you meet these skills in your field of specialty?

Session 3: From Mission Readiness to the Military Pentathlon (25 mins)

Cadets individual task:

  • Which event would challenge you most and why?

Group task:

  • Design a weekly PT session that includes at least one combat skill and one pentathlon-inspired drill

Wrap-Up & Cadet Takeaways (15 mins)

Recap key ideas:

Training with purpose

  • Key points:

  • Importance of physical fitness

  • Working demands

  • Can we predict your occupational task performance?

  • Military pentathlon - a way of training on working demands

References

Billing, Dan C., and Jace R. Drain. 2017. “International Congress on SoldiersPhysical Performance 2017: Research Priorities Across the Service Members Operational Lifecycle.” Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 20 (November): S1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2017.10.025.
Drain, Jace R., and Tara J. Reilly. 2019. “Physical Employment Standards, Physical Training and Musculoskeletal Injury in Physically Demanding Occupations.” Edited by Gemma S. Milligan, Sam D. Blacker, Pieter E. H. Brown, and Andrew G. Siddall. Work 63 (4): 495–508. https://doi.org/10.3233/wor-192963.
Hauschild, V. D., D. W. DeGroot, S. M. Hall, T. L. Grier, K. D. Deaver, K. G. Hauret, and B. H. Jones. 2017. “Fitness Tests and Occupational Tasks of Military Interest: A Systematic Review of Correlations.” Journal Article. Occup Environ Med 74 (2): 144–53. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2016-103684.
Hendrickson, N. R., M. A. Sharp, J. A. Alemany, L. A. Walker, E. A. Harman, B. A. Spiering, D. L. Hatfield, et al. 2010. “Combined Resistance and Endurance Training Improves Physical Capacity and Performance on Tactical Occupational Tasks.” Journal Article. Eur J Appl Physiol 109 (6): 1197–1208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1462-2.
Mala, J., T. K. Szivak, S. D. Flanagan, B. A. Comstock, J. Z. Laferrier, C. M. Maresh, and W. J. Kraemer. 2015. “The Role of Strength and Power During Performance of High Intensity Military Tasks Under Heavy Load Carriage.” Journal Article. US Army Med Dep J, 3–11.
NATO, Report. 2019. “Biological Limitations to Task Performance and Trainability.” Report. https://publications.sto.nato.int/publications/STO%20Technical%20Reports/STO-TR-HFM-269/$$TR-HFM-269-ALL.pdf.
Ojanen, T., H. Kyröläinen, M. Igendia, and K. Häkkinen. 2018. “Effect of Prolonged Military Field Training on Neuromuscular and Hormonal Responses and Shooting Performance in Warfighters.” Journal Article. Mil Med 183 (11-12): e705–12. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usy122.